Bhubaneswar, Sept 8 (IANS): Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi launched the CM-KISAN scheme during a special programme at the Gangadhar Meher University campus in Sambalpur on Sunday.

The eligible farmers will receive a total of Rs 4000 in two instalments of Rs 2000 each on Nuakhai and Akshaya Tritiya every year. More than 45.97 lakh small, marginal, and landless cultivators on Sunday received the first instalment of Rs 2000 each through the Direct Benefit Transfer mode under the scheme.

A total of Rs 925.40 crore has been transferred into the accounts of farmers across the state.

The Chief Minister launched the scheme in the presence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Revenue and Disaster Management Department Minister Suresh Pujari, Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra and other officials.

Deputy CM KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida joined the launching programme through virtual mode from Balangir and Puri.

“On the auspicious occasion of Nuakhai, the process begins for sowing of the rabi crops, so we decided to launch the CM-KISAN Yojana from today and provide financial assistance. The farmers can arrange essential agricultural items including fertilisers, pesticides, and machinery using financial assistance,” he said.

He also said that a farmer will get annually a total of Rs 10,000 including Rs 6000 under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) yojana and Rs 4000 under the CM-KISAN scheme.

The Chief Minister also inaugurated a CM-KISAN portal for seamless and hassle-free implementation of both PM-KISAN and CM-KISAN schemes.

This apart, he reiterated his government’s promise to offer a Minimum Support Price of Rs 3100 per quintal of rice to the farmers. He also informed about sending a proposal to the union government for setting up another All-India Institute of Medical Sciences institute in the state at Sambalpur.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJD accused the ruling BJP of continuing the schemes introduced by the previous BJD government by changing the names of the schemes.